The battle for comedy in the Vienna 'Hanswurst controversy'

This work was written during the course of the Vienna ‘Hanswurst controversy’ (1747–1783) in which Joseph von Sonnenfels (1732–1817) waged a campaign against popular theatre and the slapstick extemporizing figure of Hanswurst. Philipp Hafner, a major author of traditional Viennese popular comedies, defended the figure but urged the qualitative improvement of popular theatre. In his satirical pamphlet Hannswurstische Traeume from 1763 he attempted to mediate between the two opposing parties.